It's impossible to be more of a footballer than Messi.
To be a footballer means being a privileged interpreter of the feelings and dreams of thousands of people.
Messi is the best player on the planet and he keeps on improving at Barça, now the best team in the world. What Messi does on and off the pitch is an inspiration for children who dream of becoming a footballer.
I've played a super soldier, a doctor, a World War II fighter pilot, a professional footballer, and a meth-dealing junkie. All those things allow you to educate yourself about different worlds that you have to get familiar with.
Every professional footballer should seek to play at least one game at Celtic Park. I have never felt anything like it.
I'll have you know that I am not a failed Third Division footballer. I am a failed Second Division footballer.
If he isn't named footballer of the year, football should be stopped and the men who picked any other player should be sent to Kremlin. (on Tommy Smith)
I want to be one of the best players around in two or three years time, to be a decisive footballer.
He's one of those footballers whose brains are in his head.
I'm convinced, that when you are a footballer you are a symbol. You have to be a superman in some ways, to send messages to people all the time, to the youth all the time.
If you want to be a professional footballer, you have to respect your profession. You have to respect the people that are making you the star you are. You have to protect the passion everyday.
I always wanted kids I could take to work, and for them to experience the things I experience. So, having three boys as a footballer was a dream.
If you cut me in half, I'm a footballer.
Beckham is unusual. He was desperate to be a footballer. His mind was made up when he was nine or ten. Many kids think that it's beyond them. But you can't succeed without practising at any sport.
Footballers are going on strike? When can they start?
Footballers are slaves. I know this from the personal experience of being a footballer.
Pele called me the greatest footballer in the world. That is the ultimate salute to my life.
For years Paul Scholes has been one of the best players in the Premiership. He's incredible. He has always been under-rated throughout his career. He's a team player, a one and two-touch footballer who makes good decisions on the pitch and makes his team play.
If that lad makes a First Division footballer, then I'm Mao Tse Tung.
I don't recognize myself in the players I see today. There's only one who excites me, and that is Thierry Henry. He's not just a great footballer, he's a showman, an entertainer.